Summer produce shines in this delicious pasta! Fresh sweet summer corn, mild zucchini, peppery basil, and meaty morel mushrooms. This recipe for Linguine with Morels, Zucchini, Summer Corn, & Goat Cheese is the perfect fancy dinner you need to make!
The bounty of summer is abundant. And we need to use it while we can!
Well, sort of. There are so many different ways to preserve, pickle, freeze, and dehydrate all of summer’s glorious fresh produce:
- Pickle and can cucumbers.
- Jam or jelly sun-ripened strawberries.
- Puree herbs and freeze with olive oil (or dry them!)
The options are really endless. As proved by these unbelievable MOREL MUSHROOMS! These puppies have been dehydrated and sealed in my pantry for the better part of a year (maybe even longer?).
My sweet dear friends, Matt and Amy are produce gurus. They have a gorgeous garden that produces more veg than is comprehensible, and they use it well. Amy is truly the “Queen of Canning” in my book. The girl is, without fail, canning in to the late hours of most weeknights this time of year.
Homemade marinara.
Uniquely addictive fruit preserves.
Salsas ranging from “can’t-stop-won’t-stop” to, “holy-sh!*-that’s-hot”.
And the best damn homemade pickles I’ve had in my entire life.
I save the pickle juice long after all the pickles have been devoured, and transform in to Gollum from Lord of the Rings when anyone even SUGGESTS that I throw away that “empty jar”.
Nobody touches Myyyyyyyyyyy Presssssscioussssssss.
Ok, sorry about that. That was weird, I’ll admit.
Now Matt also cans, loves to garden, makes the best Wild Rice soup I’ve ever had (will you FINALLY give me the recipe?!), and forages his own morel mushrooms. I have been telling this kid for YEARS that he needs to get in at a Farmer’s Market. At the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, they sell for somewhere around $40/pound.
$40 YOU GUYS. Matt has GARBAGE BAGS worth of morels at the end of the season.
Buuuut I’m happy he keeps them, since I’ve been the ecstatic recipient of a number of gracious gifts.
Which brings me to this gorgeous summer pasta!
This pasta is magic. As I always say, fresh and seasonal ingredients need next to nothing to shine. Fresh sweet summer corn, mild zucchini, and of course the star: these meaty morel mushrooms.
SWOON.
All that’s left to do is stir in creamy goat cheese, top with fresh picked basil, and violà: your new favorite summer supper.
Now, I fully recognize that you may not have a Matt in your life like I do, to give you $200 worth of wild morel mushrooms. But, you can still likely find them at your local market, or dried at some specialty grocery stores. If you absolutely must…you could substitute shiitake mushrooms, too (I guess).
Go forth and eat every last bit of fresh produce you possibly can! And when you can’t stuff yourself with anymore – preserve it. Enjoy!
Linguine with Morels, Zucchini, Summer Corn, & Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Linguine
- 2 Ears Sweet corn
- 1 Small zucchini (About 1 cup)
- 1/2 Cup Dried morel mushrooms
- 2 Cloves garlic
- 1/2 Cup Crumbled goat cheese
- Basil to garnish
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Boil pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, prep the vegetables.
- Boil one cup of water until just simmering. Place mushrooms in small bowl, pour water over mushrooms. Set aside to rehydrate.
- Shuck corn and cut from the cob. Spiralize zucchini, or slice in to half moons.
- In the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the zucchini to the pasta. Strain pasta once done cooking.
- Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to pan. Add sweet corn, zucchini, and garlic to pan to sauté. Add pasta and zucchini. Strain mushrooms, reserving water. Chop mushrooms and add to pan.
- Mix in goat cheese, heat over low heat. Add residual mushroom water, to thin sauce out to desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper and garnish with basil.